Comprehensive Studies Department Student Success Plan:

The Modified Emporium Model

As you may know, retention rates for developmental students are rather low—for a variety of reasons. Often, students languish in developmental courses, never making it to their college-level courses, dropping out before they’ve even had the chance to try that upper-level coursework. Students are often frustrated by the need to complete 1, 2, 3, or even 4 extra semesters completing required developmental pre-requisite courses before beginning the requirements of their major or program. Many students also get into their developmental courses and find themselves bored, reviewing material they already know. They zone out, and when the lessons they actually do need are introduced, they’ve already given up on the class as unnecessary and irrelevant.

Recognizing these challenges to success, the Comprehensive Studies Department is diligently working on new strategies to resolve these deterrents to developmental coursework completion.

One of the major initiatives underway in the Comprehensive Studies Department is the modularization of developmental math and English courses to create a modified Emporium design to help students move through their developmental coursework as quickly as possible.

We will utilize the Emporium Model of instruction for developmental math and English courses. The Emporium Model is based on the idea of taking the instructors “off the stage” and putting them in the classroom to offer individualized, on-demand instruction based on individual student needs. After completing a diagnostic test to determine exactly what he/she knows and doesn’t know, each student will be placed on an individualized “Learning Path.” Thus, each student will only be practicing, learning, and mastering what he/she individually needs to know rather than spending days (or even weeks) reviewing material they’ve already mastered.

Instructors in the Emporium classes will reduce lecture time, focusing only on basic, underlying concepts and theories students need to succeed on their learning paths. Emporium classes will include mandatory lab time, and students will spend more than 80% of their time actually doing math and English work.

In order to achieve this Emporium redesign, we are working on breaking the curriculum of our developmental math and English courses into modules and aligning those modules to the diagnostic test. All four of our developmental math classes will be redesigned into a new “shell” course: MAT 150. This course will consist of modules from each of the four other classes. Students will begin where they test—building that Learning Path from there. The students will

then progress through course material according to their individual needs, spending more time on areas with which they struggle and less time on those they just need to review.

The content of all three developmental English classes will be broken into modules. Again, students will be diagnostically placed into the module they need and proceed from there.

This model allows students to progress through as much of their developmental sequence as possible. Successful completion of all modules with an 80% or higher will allow a student to exit the pre-curriculum courses and enter the college-credit courses needed for his/her major. Essentially, students have the opportunity to work through up to 3 ENG classes or 4 MAT classes in one semester rather than spending 14 (or even 7) weeks on each class.

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Students who do not successfully complete all modules can exit out at the point at which they have been successful. For example, a student who successfully completes module 14 in MAT 150 and is passing the course at that point with the required score would be eligible to enroll in MAT 101 the following semester. The student, depending on where he finishes, may also elect to re-enroll in MAT 150 (Financial Aid will pay for the same course twice).

2. As this design is more beneficial to students than Jumpstart (in that it allows them to “jump” more than one course), Jumpstart will no longer be offered. Students who test into MAT 102 or what was MAT 114 may have so few modules to complete that the modified Emporium model is not the best option for them; thus, they will be encouraged to complete self-study remediation via a revamped version of MyMathTest. We are working closely with the Tutoring Center to ensure math tutors will be available for students with questions related to their self-study. Keri Catalfomo and Andrea Barnett are currently working on this redesigned version of MyMathTest.

3. A student’s grade in the course will not be determined based on completion of ALL course material but rather on performance up to the point of completion. Thus, if a student is earning a B but only completes through module 14 in MAT 150, for example, he will receive a grade of B for MAT 150. However, he would only be eligible to enter MAT 101 or MAT 150 based on his completion of the modules.

4. Our current developmental courses will continue to exist. As we begin our modified Emporium pilot, we will continue to offer 14-week versions of the original classes (MAT 031, 032, 101, 102; ENG 031, 032, 100). We also plan to offer our Fast Track (7-week back-to-back) options as long as enrollment supports their need. With that said, we would encourage you to advise students in your divisions to register for the Emporium classes as appropriate.

5. If you would like for me to come speak to faculty/advisors in your division about the new courses, please let me know. I’m more than happy to come. You can contact me at jbeattie@tctc.edu, send me an Outlook request, or call me at x1333.